To control complex systems of an aircraft, such as a transport airplane, the aircrew of the aircraft often uses predetermined lists of controls, such as check-lists. Check-lists include a series of commands (or procedures) of actions that the aircrew must carry out by acting on actuation elements in the aircraft. An “actuation element” means any member, button, lever or control means or any touch element present on the aircraft and capable of being actuated (touched, pressed, pulled, etc.) by a member of the aircrew to command the implementation of a particular action in the aircraft.
On commercial transport airplanes piloted by at least two pilots, for the implementation of such a check-list, generally, one of the pilots, namely the PM (“Pilot Monitoring”) pilot who monitors the flight, reads through the various controls (or procedure steps) of the check-list, and the other pilot, namely the PF (“Pilot Flying”) pilot who pilots the aircraft, performs the actions requested for each of these controls or procedure steps. The PM pilot who reads the actions simultaneously monitors the actions carried out by the PF pilot, and thus makes it possible to prevent actuation errors such as an actuation on a wrong system, not involved in the current procedure, or an incorrect control or positioning of a correct actuation element.
Despite this monitoring by the PM pilot, actuation errors are not excluded. This standard solution concerning the management of a check-list is not therefore fully satisfactory.